TL: Hanguk
Theo’s Mental World.
Thud. Thud.
“Puhuhut. Battler~nim, it’s been a while, meow! What brings you here, meow?!”
As Theo appeared, clinging to the knee of the ultra-giant Chairman Park No. 2,
“Hahaha. Vice Chairman Theo, these two said they wanted to join Sejun Company, so I brought them.”
Battler laughed heartily and pointed at Bev and Thunder.
“I am Bev, the God of Courage, who supports the courageous.”
“I am Thunder, the God of Storm, who calls upon wind and lightning.”
“Puhuhut. I am the great Hybrid Chairman Park’s right-hand man, the deadly dragon clawed Hybrid Golden Cat, and the lucky Legendary Merchant, Park Theo, meow!”
Not wanting to lose, Theo introduced himself in an equally grand manner.
Once the introductions were over,
“Puhuhut. Bev~nim, Thunder~nim, put your thumbprints here, meow!”
Theo handed them a contract that already had the paw prints of himself and Blackie.
104.28.193.250
Since he never knew when a day like this would come, Theo had prepared thousands of contract copies in advance by giving Blackie a single roasted and dried sweet potato.
Stamp.
Stamp.
As the two pressed their thumbprints onto the contract,
“Puhuhut. Bev~nim and Thunder~nim, welcome to Sejun Company, meow!”
Theo warmly welcomed them.
And then,
“Hahaha. You just stamped the contract, right? Bev, from now on, speak to me respectfully. Got it?!”
Battler immediately established dominance over Bev.
“What? Where’s that rule?! Didn’t you say Sejun Company doesn’t allow seniority-based bullying just because someone joined earlier?!”
“Huh?! Are you trying to rebel against me right now?! Vice Chairman Theo, Bev is attempting insubordination here!”
“Wait, when did I ever-”
As Bev tried to argue, Battler tattled to Theo right away.
However,
“Puhuhut. It’s fine, meow!”
“Huh? I said it’s insubordination?”
Contrary to Battler’s expectations, Theo wasn’t angry.
“Because from now on, Bev~nim will be in charge of managing all full-time battle gods, meow!”
Bev hadn’t committed insubordination at all.
“Yes!”
“Huh?!”
Bev and Battler had opposite reactions to Theo’s decision.
For Theo, it was an obvious choice.
Butler was a major criminal who had wronged Sejun many times.
On the other hand, although Bev had been a nuisance to Sejun, he had also given him many things and had even willingly joined the company.
From Theo’s perspective, it was only natural to favor Bev over Battler.
“Well then, gods~nim, time to leave, meow! I, Vice Chairman Theo, need to sleep early so I can play with Chairman Park, meow!”
And with that, Theo kicked the gods out of his mental world, and the battle gods returned to the Combat Shop Headquarters.
Then,
“Battler.”
“Yeah.”
“Lie down.”
“Yeah.”
Without a word of protest, Battler accepted his punishment from Bev.
***
Sejun’s Mental World.
“Where is this?”
After drinking Samyangju and losing consciousness, Sejun found himself regaining awareness in his mental world.
At that moment,
-Sejun, what did you eat for your soul to become so enriched?
The Creator God descended before Sejun in a dazzling light.
“Uh… You’re that person from last time, right?”
Sejun asked while looking at the Creator God.
Just as the Creator God had said, perhaps because Sejun’s soul was particularly full today, the Creator God’s form appeared clearer than before.
Since their appearance changed every time he saw them, he needed to confirm whether it was the same entity.
-Yes, it was I. (TL: Dio)
The Creator God responded in a benevolent voice and then asked,
-Did you receive the gift sent by the Creator God?
Pretending as if it wasn’t from them.
However,
“Gift? The Creator God sent me a gift?!”
This was news to Sejun.
-Yes. On Christmas, the Creator God twisted the storm of causality to create Santa Sejun…
“Eh? No way, Santa Sejun was made by my Theo.”
-Huh? What are you talking about?! That was created by the Creator God!
“No, it wasn’t! My Theo-”
Thus began a debate over who had created Santa Sejun.
-That damned cat! How dare he steal the Creator God’s achievement?!
The Creator God’s fury turned toward Theo.
“No! I’m telling you, our Theo made Santa Sejun! And if you mess with my Theo, I won’t stand by and do nothing!”
Sejun issued a firm warning to the Creator God, who was fuming at Theo.
-No, it’s not that I intend to do anything to Theo…
The Creator God took a deep breath, calming down.
What am I even doing?
At the same time, a wave of self-awareness hit. It seemed like continuing this conversation with Sejun would only lead to frustration.
-Actually, the reason I came is to inform you of something.
So, they got to the main point.
“Something to tell me?”
-Yes.
“What is it?”
-Search the sea floor carefully. There, you will find the Creator God’s Tablet.
“Huh?! The Creator God’s Tablet is at the bottom of the sea?! But I already checked the sea earlier…”
-It is definitely there. And here, this is a gift.
With a slightly curt voice, the Creator God sent a glowing blue energy orb to Sejun.
And then,
Srrrk.
The light was absorbed into Sejun’s body.
[All stats have increased by 1000.]
[Mental Strength potential has increased by 10,000.]
A series of messages appeared.
“Thank you. But… who exactly are you?”
Sejun expressed his gratitude but then questioned the Creator God, who gave him a gift every time they met. No matter how he looked at it, they were no ordinary existence. ꞦÄNОᛒÈṦ
-I cannot tell you yet.
The Creator God shook their head, refusing to reveal their identity.
“Then, do you know about the first Apostle of the Creator God, Emila~nim?”
-I do. But why are you looking for Emila?
“Well, actually, I have a few drops of Incomplete Creator God’s Tears…”
Sejun explained that he wanted to ask Emila to refine the Incomplete Creator God’s Tears into an Great Growth Elixir.
-Oh! You purified them as well?! Hahaha. Understood. I will tell Emila to issue you a quest.
“Yes, thank you. But can I ask one more thing?”
-Go ahead.
Hearing that Sejun had purified the Tears of Destruction, the Creator God’s voice became benevolent once again.
“Have you heard anything about the Creator God who ran away?”
-I did NOT run away!
“Huh? No, why are you getting so worked up? I wasn’t talking about you, but about another Creator God…”
-GET OUT!
The Creator God hurriedly expelled Sejun from unconsciousness back to reality.
***
77th Floor of the Blue Tower.
“Hm…”
As Sejun opened his eyes,
Squish. Squish. Squish.
He saw Theo diligently stepping on his face.
“Vice Chairman Theo, when did you wake up?”
“Puhuhut. I woke up just a little while ago, meow!”
“Really? Hey, Vice Chairman Theo, listen…”
Sejun recounted what he had heard from the Creator God and asked if Theo felt any pull toward the sea.
“Meow…”
Theo stretched out his front paw toward the sea, trying to sense something.
However,
“There’s nothing, meow… I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help to Chairman Park, meow…”
Not sensing anything, Theo’s ears drooped, and he became despondent.
“It’s fine. Let’s go back into the sea and search again. If we can’t find anything, we’ll just leave. Honestly, I don’t fully trust that information. Every time the topic of the runaway Creator God comes up, they act strangely angry…”
At that moment,
“Huh?!”
Something clicked in Sejun’s mind like a puzzle coming together.
Wait… Could it be?! That guy was the Creator God?!
Sejun suddenly realized that the entity who had appeared in his mental world was actually the Creator God.
Hehe. No matter how great the Creator God is, He can’t deceive the great detective Sherlock Sejun.
Feeling proud of his own deduction, Sejun smirked.
Of course, it wasn’t that Sejun’s reasoning skills had suddenly skyrocketed, it was simply that the Creator God had been dropping way too many hints, making it obvious even to someone as clueless as Sejun.
Getting mad as if it was a personal insult when Sejun denied receiving a gift from the Creator God, revealing the location of the Creator God’s Tablet, being close to the Apostle of the Creator God…
And most tellingly, every time Sejun asked about the runaway Creator God, they got unreasonably defensive, as if they were the one who had run away.
The Creator God had been dropping so many hints that it was almost as if they weren’t even trying to hide it.
As Sejun was feeling proud after figuring out the Creator God’s identity
Squish. Squish.
Theo resumed stepping on Sejun’s face and spoke in a bright voice.
“Chairman Park, two new full-time employees have joined Sejun Company, meow!”
Feeling good after making Sejun’s face a little less ugly, Theo sounded quite cheerful.
“Two?! Where are they?”
Thinking that Theo had encountered some robbers or pirates while he was sleeping, Sejun looked around warily.
“Puhuhut. They’re gods, so they’re not here, meow!”
Seeing Sejun’s reaction, Theo also felt proud.
“Gods?”
“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow! Bev~nim and Thunder~nim came to my mental world and said they wanted to join Sejun Company, meow! So I had them stamp the contract and welcomed them as full-time employees, meow!”
A completely different recruitment process from anything Sejun had seen before.
“For real?! Bev~nim and Thunder~nim personally came to your mental world and voluntarily stamped the contract? They weren’t captured?!”
Sejun asked in disbelief.
“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow!”
Theo nodded vigorously.
Our company is at that level?! A company where gods come to apply for jobs?!
A company that gods voluntarily joined, it suddenly felt like Sejun Company’s prestige had skyrocketed.
“And I… am the chairman of such a company.”
Sejun’s chest swelled with pride.
“Puhuhut. And I’m the vice chairman of Sejun Company, meow!”
“Yeah. Our Vice Chairman Theo did something incredible.”
Sejun vigorously patted Theo’s head.
I should build a monument to commemorate their recruitment.
Sejun decided to commemorate the two gods who had previously been a nuisance to him and Cuengi by building employment achievement monuments for them upon their recruitment.
And then,
“Vice Chairman Theo, let’s put out a full-time employee recruitment notice through Hel~nim.”
“Puhuhut. Got it, meow! But what should it say, meow?”
“We’ll say that anyone who joins Sejun Company as a full-time employee will get an employment achievement monument built in their honor.”
He planned to use the employment achievement monument as bait to lure more gods into joining Sejun Company.
“Puhuhut. Understood, meow! Hel~nim, post a recruitment notice, meow!”
Theo immediately relayed Sejun’s words to Hel.
Hel had instantly applied for the position. Since things couldn’t get any worse for her, she decided to go all-in on the Sejun Coin and bet everything on Sejun’s company.
“Puhuhut. Of course, meow! Hel~nim, come find me later when I’m about to sleep, meow!”
After finishing his conversation with Hel,
“Puhuhut. As expected, Chairman Park is a genius, meow! Hel~nim has applied to join, meow!”
Theo praised Sejun.
“Hehehe. This is nothing.”
Sejun grinned widely, trying to act humble.
“Puhuhut.”
Theo chuckled along with him.
Thus, Sejun officially announced a recruitment notice, offering employment achievement monuments to gods who became full-time employees.
At that moment,
Grrrrrgle.
The sound of Cuengi’s stomach rumbled as he slept soundly.
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, it’s time for dinner, meow!”
Even while sleeping, Cuengi’s internal food alarm remained perfectly accurate.
“Guys, let’s eat.”
Sejun woke up his companions and then,
“Has it dried completely?”
He checked the seaweed he had left to dry on the rocks.
Crisp.
Applying a little pressure, the seaweed made a satisfying crunching sound.
“Nice. It’s dried perfectly.”
Sejun lightly brushed a thin layer of sesame oil over the crisp seaweed and sprinkled some salt on top.
Then,
Whoosh.
Carefully roasting the seaweed at a safe distance from the fire to prevent burning.
As the heat touched the oil, the combined aroma of roasted seaweed, sesame oil, and salt filled the air.
Kueng? Kueng?!
[What’s that smell?! It must be delicious!]
“Hehehe. Here, ahhh.”
Excited by the smell, Cuengi opened his mouth, and Sejun placed a small piece of roasted seaweed inside.
Crisp!
Kueng!
After tasting the seaweed, Cuengi hurriedly brought over his rice bowl.
Just like a true Food Detective, Cuengi immediately realized that seaweed was the perfect side dish for rice.
“Vice Chairman Theo, Blackie, do you guys want to try some?”
“No way, meow! I, Vice Chairman Theo, am waiting for the grilled fish Chairman Park will cook for me, meow!”
Kking! Kking!
[No! Give me the roasted and dried sweet potato you made, Butler!]
As expected, Theo and Blackie rejected the offer.
“Cuengi, instead of eating the rice and seaweed separately, try wrapping the rice with the seaweed like this.”
Kueng! Kueng!
[Dad, you’re a genius! This tastes even better!]
Sejun taught Cuengi a tastier way to eat seaweed and rice, and they enjoyed their meal together.
Kuhhh.
Gororong.
Kurorong.
Kkirorong.
…
..
.
And then, they all fell asleep again.
Meanwhile,
“What?! If you become a full-time employee at Sejun Company, which is run by Trust-in-Park, you get an achievement monument?!”
“Not only that! Hel said the employment achievement monument is on a completely different level compared to all previous achievement monuments!”
The news of Sejun hiring full-time employees shook the entire Seed Shop Headquarters.